As I look through the headlines for a topic to reflect on, I notice a trend of news reports on the issue of false claims of Indigenous ancestry. This means that people are lying about their ancestry, sometimes in order to reap the benefits that Indigenous people are legally entitled to. Most recently, Alberta’s newest Premier, Danielle Smith, claimed to have Cherokee heritage without having done a “deep dive” into her own history. These benefits, such as Indigenous-specific scholarships, hunting rights, and the privelage of being a spokesperson are small steps towards reconciling centuries of exploitation. It is shocking and sickening to hear that people can degrade Indigenous people while simultaneously profiteering the few supports that are set up to help them. This relates to the overall ideas discussed in class of Indigenous subjugation and exploitation. Ever since the colonizers arrived, Indigenous people have been pushed around and drained of their culture, spirituality, resources, and values. Clearly this has not stopped.
It is especially confusing for Indigenous people who have experienced the ill treatment and exploitation of Indigenous people: it seems that people who falsely identify as Indigenous don’t understand that the negative implications of being Indigenous in Western culture are much greater than the benefits experienced through Indigenous status. It is likely that some of these people have not experienced the negative implications, whether it is because they don’t “look Indigenous”, or actually are not Indigenous. A further issue here is that actual Indigenous people are being called out because they “don’t look Indigenous enough” to claim that ancestry. This is an issue that Thomas King experienced when he was experimenting with the way he dressed; if he dressed in Westernized clothing while claiming to be Indigenous, he was often accused of being a Pretendian or an apple, "red on the outside and white on the inside". The only way to know for sure is by following the paper trail of ancestry, and hope that none of the family’s history was erased through colonization or residential schools. It is particularly frustrating for Indigenous people who are struggling to claim their rightful ancestry due to lost documents and the overall erasure of Indigenous history.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/first-nations-chief-critical-of-alberta-premier-danielle-smith-s-indigenous-heritage-claim-1.6657519
https://thestarphoenix.com/opinion/columnists/doug-cuthand-faking-indigenous-ancestry-doesnt-help-first-nations-causes
King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. House of Anansi, 2003.